Overview
From our research into the overwhelmed case where the better players simply overpower their lower level opponents and gain level increases that they shouldn't really have, we have found that this is a very common occurrence with the top pros - both the men and the women.
As a result, we realise that the very high levels that the top pros have acheived are not as accurate as we would like and so, whereas we have applied the overwhelmed case limits to 'normal' players from the end of 2024, we have decided to apply these limits to all historic pro matches as well.
You will notice an immediate level drop of the top players with the top men dropping from well over 100,000 to a little under that and the same for the top women players dropping back under 20,000. These new levels have been assessed by former professional players and we believe they are more representative now and therefore more comparative with the top players from previous eras.
Impact
Although it is the top pros that are affected most, all the professional level players will be affected to some extent; just more so at the top than lower down. Any male player over 20,000 may notice their level has dropped at least by some amount, female players from about 4,000 and up. Although the absolute numbers will be lower, the general ranking order should remain pretty much unchanged.
Those top players who don't normally destroy their lower level opponents will probably fair better and not drop so much!